Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 3B
Football
Panthers set to face vastly improved foe
By Ben Munro
Jackson County will open
region play against a new-look
Monroe Area team. And the new
look has mainly come in the win
column.
The Panthers will travel to face
a Monroe Area team off to a 5-0
start and ranked No. 8 in Class
AAA under new coach Kevin
Reach. Monroe Area went 3-8 a
year ago.
“It’s a lot of
the same kids
from last year,”
coach Brandon
Worley said.
“They're well
coached and
they believe they can win and
they're playing that way.”
The Purple Hurricanes are
coming off a 42-0 thrashing of
Class 6A Apalachee last week
in their final non-region tune-up.
The 42 points were a season-high
for Monroe Area, which has won
comfortably in nearly all of its
games thus far. Four of the team's
five victories have come by 24
points or more.
Quarterback Chandler Byron
serves as the catalyst of the Purple
Hurricane offense.
Despite not playing in the sec
ond half last week, he accounted
for five touchdowns in Monroe
Area’s throttling of Apalachee.
Byron threw for 186 yards and
two touchdowns and ran for
138 yards and three touchdowns
before taking a seat in the second
half. Byron has thrown for 749
yards this season and run for 607.
Jackson County, which routed
the Purple Hurricanes 41-21 last
year, will counter with its reliable
ground attack in an attempt to
keep its offense on the field and
Byron and the Purple Hurricanes
on the sideline. The Panthers have
been churning up yardage this
year behind running back Noah
Venable, who with 1,042 yards
rushing was the first player in the
state to exceed the 1,000-yard
mark.
“No doubt, our goal is to con
trol the clock and keep the ball
out of the other team’s hands,”
Worley said, adding that that's his
team's plan each week.
Monroe Area will, of course,
do its part to try to negate the
Panther running game.
“They tackle well,” Worley
said. “They're fundamentally
sound, so they fit well into run
gaps.”
Monroe Area also likes to load
up to stop the run. The Purple
Hurricanes base out of a 3-4
scheme but often bring their safe
ties in to have nine defenders in
the box.
Defensive end Javion Heard
is among the standouts on the
defensive side of the ball. Worley
called him “a heck of a player.”
Jackson County comes into this
game having a week off to game
plan. The Panthers fell to 3-2 after
a 45-26 loss to East Hall, which
was equipped with one of the best
offenses in the state. Worley feels
the five-game non-region sched
ule has prepared his team well.
“I think we’ve seen just about
everything through the season.”
he said. “I expect our guys to
show up and play just like last
year.”
•What: Jackson
Co. at Monroe
Area
•When: Friday,
7:30 p.m.
HOLDIN’ ‘EM BACK
Members of the Jackson County football team get fired up before a recent game. The Panthers
had last week off and will face Class AAA’s No. 8 ranked team, Monroe Area, in their Region
8-AAA opener. Photo by Ben Munro
Football
Eagles ready for some football
after three-week long hiatus
By Ben Munro
The East Jackson football team is
eager to get back on the field this Fri
day after what will be a 21-day layoff
but it faces a tall order in its return.
The Eagles host defending region
champion Morgan County at 7:30 p.m.
East Jackson hasn't played since
routing Oglethorpe County 33-0 on
Sept. 8. The extended hiatus came as a
result of the Eagles' Sept. 15 matchup
with Glynn Academy being canceled
due to the aftermath of Tropical Storm
Irma and a scheduled off date this past
Friday.
“They’re chomping at the bit (to
play),” coach Scott Wilkins said of his
players, “and so are we (as coaches).”
The well-rested Eagles will tangle
with a Morgan County team that is
off to a 4-1 start and has posted 40 or
more points in three games this year.
The Bulldogs are coming off a 41-21
win over Lamar County.
Senior quarterback Trey Patterson
spearheads Morgan County’s explo
sive offensive attack, having already
thrown for 1,314 yards this season
and 15 touchdowns. He passed for 283
yards and four touchdowns in the Bull
dogs' win over Lamar County.
“It’s not just the quarterback,”
Wilkins said. “This is a team that has
26 seniors, so they ought to be good.”
Patterson’s favorite targets are
Anthony Cooper (21 catches, 510
yards) and Jordan Huff (25 catches,
387 yards).
Morgan County's ground game is
led by a committee of three running
backs who all have amassed over 150
yards rushing this year — Donovan
Nelson, Stephon Rambus and Tre’mon
Moore.
Morgan County runs a defensive
scheme similar to that of Glynn Acad
emy, for which East Jackson coaches
spent plenty of time prepping before
that game was called off. Wilkins said
the Bulldogs have “explosive, talent
ed” outside linebackers and a second
ary “that runs around well.”
East Jackson is embracing the chal
lenge of facing such a talented foe
right out of the gate in region play.
“It’s a great opportunity for us,”
Wilkins said. “Just like the Glynn
Academy game would have been a
great opportunity to go against a great
program, this game now gives us the
same thing, but this game counts in
the region.”
Dragons • •• continued from Page IB
on Madison to know that
Madison is a very capable
team,” he said. “Hopefully,
we'll understand the added
importance of our region
opener, especially being at
home.”
Madison County has expe
rienced its share of strug
gles in a 2-3 start but rout
ed Franklin County 49-21
last week in what's easily
its most complete offensive
performance of the year. The
Red Raiders rolled up a sea
son-best 469 total yards.
“They do a really great
job of kind of mixing their
spread offense with their
wing-T, which makes them
doubly difficult to prepare
for defensively,” Cathcart
said.
Traveon Lattimore sparked
Madison County's offense in
a multitude of ways this past
Friday. He finished with 64
yards rushing on just three
carries, 85 yards receiv
ing on four catches and a
99-yard kickoff return for
a touchdown. Quarterback
Colby Smith was on target,
throwing for 156 yards and
two touchdowns on 8-of-10
passing.
“They’ve got some play-
makers on both sides of the
ball, some folks that certainly
the other night stepped up
and had a big night,” Cath
cart said.
Meanwhile, Jefferson beat
Gainesville 33-3 last week,
wrapping up the non-region
portion of its schedule with
a 4-1 record. Three of those
wins came by 30 points or
more. Jefferson also lost a
high-profile game to Thom
son, 20-14. in the final 30
seconds and rallied to beat
Flowery Branch 35-29 in an
emotional game against for
mer head coach Ben Hall.
“We’re a work in prog
ress still.” Cathcart said. “I'm
proud of where we are, but
we certainly have a lot of
room for improvement.”
The coach added that it’s
going to take a few more
players stepping up for this
team to maximize its poten
tial.
“There’s some guys we're
waiting for a break out game
from,” Cathcart said.
A Dragon player who
has stepped up repeatedly
throughout his career may be
somewhat limited this week.
Cathcart said star running
back Colby Wood is day-to-
day after tweaking his ankle
against Gainesville. But
Cathcart also said that Wood
would have likely been able
to play in the second half this
past week if needed.
Wood is averaging 7.3
yards per carry this year with
631 yards rushing. He also
has 151 yards receiving, aver
aging nearly 19 yards per
catch.
“He's obviously not only
one of the most productive
players around, he’s really
one of the toughest play
ers around considering how
much he contributes in all
three phases of the game,”
Cathcart said.
Friday's game is the first of
two consecutive home games
for the Dragons, who have
won 14 of their last 15 games
at Memorial Stadium. Cath
cart praised the crowd support
his team has received, both on
the road and at home.
“We're just hoping for that
kind of environment,” Cath
cart said. “The kids really
feed off that energy. It’s defi
nitely nice to have that home
field advantage.”
ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS
The West Jackson Fire
Department is now ac
cepting applications for
a full-time Firefighter
position through Octo
ber 13,2017 at 5 p.m. No training is necessary!
Minimum requirements: Must be at least 18
years of age with a Fligh School Diploma/GED.
Applicants must have no felony convictions
and successfully complete our hiring process to
include a background check and drug test.
Salary/Benefits: 100% Employee Insurance
(Medical/Dental), 70%Coverage Family
Insurance (Medical/Dental), Starting Pay
(based on training, certification, experience)
$28,784.56-$32,935.28. Retirement: 401(a)
with up to a 3% match from the District as
well as Annual Leave and Sick Leave!
Please apply online at www.wjfd.org/ca
reers/or in person at West Jackson Fire De
partment 69 West Jackson Rd Braselton, GA
30517.Contact Captain Joshua LeBlanc with
any questions at 706-654-2500 or jleblanc@
wjfd.org.
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